Ammo Lock Vs Water Conditioner

[Queen Bee]

I am not too sure if the ammo lock is what I am looking for. Is this product like the ammonia chips that simply absorb the ammonia? Someone told me, that once you start using ammo lock, you must keep using it. They also told me that the ammo lock will stop the cycling of my tank. I do have fish in the tank which is not completely cycled yet.

The bottle said it was a water conditioner that converted ammonia to a less toxic form of ammonia which is then removed through water changes. It is made by API. I am wanting a conditioner that will work better for taking ammonia out of the tap water before I do my water changes. Recently,after testing my water after adding the conditioner, I found out the water was still reading .5 ammonia levels. I added 5X the recommended dosage, and then the ammonia read 0 and I proceeded with the water change.

Are there any better products out there that will do the job without interupting the cycling? I don't want a tank full of useless or harmful chemicals.

Any advice or comments would be appreciated.

 

[Colin_T]

I would just put the tap water in a bucket with a filter full of Ammogon (ammonia removing chips/granules). Then let it run for a day until the ammonia is removed and you have clean water. If you use Wardley's Ammogon you can recharge it after each use and it won't cost a fortune. You use it in freshwater to remove ammonia and then put it in salt water to release the ammonia from it.

Ammogon & Ammolock are liquid water conditioners that are meant to trap or bind the ammonia and mark it less toxic. The beneficial filter bacteria is still meant to be able to use this trapped ammonia and process it like normal ammonia.

Besides the Ammogon I don't know of any other products that do the same thing. Perhaps write to the manufacturer requesting more information about how the ammo lock traps or binds the free ammonia and what happens to it. Tell them you are doing a science project for school and they should be really helpful

 

[Tolak]

The chemical that converts ammonia to ammonium is hydromethane sulfinate, or a related chemical. Any water treatment, including dechlorinator, that states that it removes or neuteralized ammonia contains this substance. A single reagent nessler test will detect ammonium as ammonia, so if you are using this test you will not see a drop in ammonia. A two reagent salicylate test will discriminate between ammonia & ammonium.

I would try testing your water before adding dechlorinator. Chloramine, which is a combination of chlorine & ammonia, and used in most municipal water supplies, will split into chlorine and ammonia when treated with dechlorinator. This could be the reason you are seeing ammonia in your water supply after using dechlorinator.